Rebels and government forces bombing towns clashed in several areas of Syria on Friday, as thousands of people took part in “Damascus, here we come” demonstrations, monitors and activists said.
In the capital itself, five people were wounded in Kfar Sousa district as security forces opened fire to disperse protesters, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In Maaret al-Numan and other towns of Idlib province on the border with Turkey, demonstrators gathered after Muslim weekly prayers in mosques, calling for the trial of regime leaders, said the Observatory.
Security forces opened fire at demonstrators in Hama province of central Syria where army deserters killed a soldier, the monitoring group said, without giving an immediate toll for the protesters.
In videos posted online by activists, protests were also seen in the southern province of Daraa, birthplace of the year-long revolt in Syria that monitors say has cost more than 9,100 lives.
Fighting on Friday was concentrated mostly in the north of the country, near the border with Turkey. “Troops are bombing and helicopters flying overhead. Fighting has been going on since midday (Thursday) between regime forces and (army) deserters in Aazaz, opposition activist Mohammed Halabi in Aleppo province told AFP by telephone. The Britain-based Observatory said at least three soldiers and a rebel were killed in the confrontation.
The city of Aazaz is strategically positioned on the road to safety in neighbouring Turkey for wounded and fleeing civilians as well as a supply route for Free Syrian Army rebels.
On Thursday, a bus, with women and children on board, was shot up close to the town of Sermin in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing nine passengers and the driver, said the Observatory.
